


with all due respect

by litra



Category: Star Wars: Thrawn Series - Timothy Zahn (2017)
Genre: Blanket Permission, Book 2, Gen, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Plotting, Thrawn: Alliances - Freeform, do not poke the sith lord, sadly not as sexy as it might have been., unbetaed, what if Eli was in book 2
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-22
Updated: 2020-04-22
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:00:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,256
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23782756
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/litra/pseuds/litra
Summary: Thrawn taunts Vader.Eli asks what the hell he's thinking.
Comments: 9
Kudos: 37





	with all due respect

**Author's Note:**

> For the sake of this fic let's pretend that Eli hasn't gone off the the ascendancy yet.

Thrawn narrowed his eyes "So I have heard."

In the background Eli kept his hand at his side, careful not to roll his eyes or drag his hand down his face. Why did Thrawn insist to poking the bear? Vader was the emperor's right hand. the leader of the inquisitors. He was possibly the most immediately dangerous person in whatever sector of space that he occupied and yet Thrawn insisted on this childish taunting.

Lord Vader turned to face Thrawn, his mask glaring down at him, his physical presence looming over all of them. Even his breathing grew harsh as if to remind them all that he could make them stop breathing with just a word or gesture. Thrawn of course, didn't flinch. didn't even move.

And for some reason, Vader turned and stormed away.

Eli let out a breath. "Admiral, if I may show you something in your office?" he said. Only Thrawn and perhaps Captain Ferro knew him well enough to note the tension underlying the request.

Thrawn nodded, offhand. "Captain, you have the bridge. Please inform me as soon as you have the results." Thrawn stepped forward and Eli fell into step at his elbow. He only spoke when Thrawn was safely behind closed doors, and privacy programs.

"With all due respect sir, What are you thinking?"

Thrawn had started to circle his desk, one hand tracing over the polished metal , ready to activate his station. Instead he paused and looked up.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean with Vader. This whole thing can't possibly be some plot to get him on your side, not with you constantly irritating him, so what? are you looking to get demoted? Are you trying to push him over the edge?"

Thrawn waved a hand, cutting him off, "no, nothing like that. I am simply testing a theory."

Eli crossed his arms, "And what's that?"

"I believe he was formerly a jedi."

Eli paused and forced himself to think about what Thrawn was saying. "That is one of the common rumors, Do you have proof?"

Thrawn took a minute to settle into his seat. "I do not."

"Then why?"

Thrawn steepled his hands in front of him. "Would you believe it was his aura?"

Eli gave up and ran a hand through his hair. If it was anyone else, He'd say no. He didn't believe it. Even the fact that Thrawn was asking him meant that the evidence was purely circumstantial. Maybe Vader had said something that had matched up with something Thrawn had once read. Maybe it was the way he moved, or the way he wore his cloak, things that wouldn't mean a thing to anyone else, but meant the world to Thrawn when added to a hundred other little details. Still--

"That doesn't answer why you're baiting him. Last I checked you still wanted to be on the Emperor's good side."

"Vader is not the Emperor."

Eli opened his mouth, to snap that he might as well be, but no words came out. instead his mind was spinning, attaching figures and sums and reports. He'd never be as fast as Thrawn but he'd studied under the Chiss long enough to pick up a few things. 

"Vader's reputation isn't a good one..." 

"It is not," Thrawn agreed.

"We're at the edge of unknown space. The emperor might as well not exist out here." Eli's voice was growing stronger, and Thrawn nodded. "So you're trying to see what he'll do? If he'll, what... slip the leash?"

"As you said his reputation is not a fine one. I simply wondered if that was because of the emperor or despite him."

Eli nodded and took the chair across from Thrawn. it would have been a terrible breach of protocol, but after all these years that hardly mattered.

"So, what about the Jedi thing then?" Eli was prepared for his question to be answered with a question, or maybe a raised eyebrow. Thrawn rarely missed an opportunity to test him. Instead Thrawn spread his hands out on his desk.

"I do not wholly approve of the Emperor's tactics. One thing that has confused me since his arrival was the tail of the Jedi rebellion." 

The Jedi rebellion had happened when Eli was just a kid. He hadn't really understood it then, but as the son of an outer rim shipping family no one really expected him to. Later on he'd seen all the highly dramatized accounts of what had happened. He knew it was propaganda, but there had to be truth buried under all that. There was no way the senate and the emperor would have let it all happen like that if they hadn't been traitors. Besides, that was a decade ago. Eli knew Thrawn could find a use for old technology but that was pushing it. 

"To what end?" Eli had to ask, "The Jedi are all gone, and even if Vader was once one of them he's not exactly what the old stories describe. He could never be a beacon of hope and civilization like they were said to be." 

"No, but the Jedi were more than their legends, they were also sentiants. If Lord Vader was a Jedi, and the Emperor killed all the others, why not him? How would a man feel after years of being leashed by the man who killed his whole culture?"

"You want to see if he's actually loyal?" Eli could hardly believe it. By all accounts Vader wasn't just loyal, the Emperor was the only thing that held him back from killing everyone in sight. He was a fanatic.

"I want..." Thrawn pressed two fingers to his lips, "To see if any of the Jedi is left under that armor."

Eli sat back in his chair. A part of him thought that if there was any of the Jedi left in there, then they'd have to kill him, or try at least. Another part remembered the stories he'd heard as a kid, everything from daring and courageous generals to the mystics that wept through the outer rim, killing pirates and turning whole secters on their heads, asking for nothing and never staying past the rebuilding. If he was honest with himself, he didn't know what to think. It all hinged on a slim if so maybe it didn't mater. 

Running a hand over his eyes, Eli pressed his thumb into his temple. If Thrawn thought it was possible then it was possible.

"Okay, what next?" Eli asked when it became clear that Thrawn was waiting for his verdict.

"Now we make our way to Batuu and see what we find there." 

Eli let out a breath and nodded. In this case Thrawn was right. They couldn't plan until they knew the terrain and the enemy. Still it was frustrating, how could it not be. Eli pushed himself to his feet. 

"Well I guess I better go research the Jedi. Anything in particular I should keep an eye out for?"

The corner of Thrawn's lips quirked up in a little smile that reflected in his eyes. "I wouldn't want to shape your conclusions."

Eli snorted, "No of course not. Anyone tell you you're infuriating sir?" There wasn't any anger in his words. He was as used to Thrawn's tricks as anyone could be. This was almost normal in retrospect.

"It may have been mentioned a few times." 

Eli turned to the door but Thrawn's voice caught him.

"Eli... Thank you for trusting me."

Eli glanced over his shoulder, "always sir."

  
  



End file.
